Oklahoma- part 2

This post is going to be about the Native Praise Singers and Turtle Races!

Sunday night at the Thessalonia Church we were blessed to hear the Native Praise Singers. These women are from all over Oklahoma and represent many different tribes including Choctaw, Chickasaw, Cherokee and Seminole. They sang many different songs in their Native Languages. Absolutely beautiful. Greg posted on Facebook how awesome it was to hear "How Great Thou Art" in the Choctaw Language. I still get chillbumps thinking about it! Hearing that many different Native American Tribes combining their beautiful voices and praising the Lord was a wonderful experience! We also got to talk to many of the women after the service, it was an unforgettable night. I am so glad they planned that for the Sunday night church service!

Now, on to the turtle races.....I started hearing about turtle races and collecting turtles on Sunday night. Monday morning on the way to Bible School, I was "blessed" to retreive the first turtle of our group. Greg markered a racing stripe down her back and I named her Princess. The other van (carrying my children) also got a turtle and named her spot and markered a big spot on her back. These turtles plus the others lived in a turtle pen in the church yard until Friday. If you couldn't find a kid during VBS, the first place to look was the turtle pen. This was a big deal...we thought it was just something this church did, but later found out is in a Choctaw Indian Custom/Tradition. Don't know where it started but it is alive and well in Oklahoma. Friday when we got to the church, we found out that 13 turtles (including ours) had escaped. Someone left part of the pen open and there was a mass turtle exodus (I personally think it was a turtle napping because they knew Princess was a winner, but everyone else is blaming the open pen). Kind proves how fast turtles really are because we couldn't find them. The remaining turtles raced after VBS. Here is how it works.....you cut the top and bottom off a barrel, sit it in the dirt and put the turtles in it. Then you mark off the outer "finish line" ring with a hose or rope. Remove the barrel and they are off. The first turtle to cross the finish line is the winner. Some of these turtles could really move and some just took a nap. There were 5 or 6 races and the church kids really got into it! It was fun.

I will put some pictures on here when I can find them!

Thats all for now!